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Even an act as simple as exercise can attract a crowd--in this case Iraqi youngsters who are mimmicking the Americans every move. They may be miles from home, but those who stand guard over our freedom today are much more than simply soldiers--they're also diplomats in uniform. This photo essay says it all. Photo courtesy of the DOD.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael Sandoval, from the 25th Infantry Division, demonstrates his soccer skills before giving the ball away to an Iraqi boy in Kirkuk. Photo courtesy of the DOD.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Corey West, from 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, watches and smiles while a young Iraqi girl tries on his sunglasses in Ja'ara, Iraq, Aug. 31, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Timothy Kingston
An Iraqi boy's American flag shirt earns him a high five from Sgt. Andrea Pierce, a military intelligence specialist with the 82nd Airborne Division's Company B, Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, during a patrol through Baghdad, Sept. 5, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mike Pryor
Iraqi police distribute food bags to residents of Fallujah, Iraq, Sept. 6, 2007. U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, are assisting by providing vehicle support and security for the police. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Master Sgt. Paul D. Bishop
Army Sgt. 1st Class Mendez J. Frith, Battery B, 9th Engineer Battalion, enjoys a brief chat with Iraqi children while checking on a variety of essential service projects in northwest Baghdad, Sept. 14, 2007. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jonathan Doti, of the 4th Combat Camera Squadron, lets an Iraqi child take his picture in the Shirta district of Rashid, Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 22, 2007. Doti is documenting soldiers with the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion as they gather information. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class David R. Quillen
Lt. Col. James D. Hess (right), battalion commander, 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, watches a young Iraqi boy enjoy one of four large slides during the grand opening of the Tisin Playground, Kirkuk, Iraq, Sept. 24, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mike Alberts
A U.S. Army soldier interacts with an Iraqi child during a routine patrol in Mufriq, Iraq, Oct. 8, 2007. The soldier is from 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller
U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Robin Boggs instructs an Iraqi woman at a temporary medical facility in Saqlawiyah, Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Neill A. Sevelius
U.S. Army Staff Sgt, Rick Burton, attached to 1st Battalion, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, hands out backpacks, Beanie Babies and soccer balls to Iraqi children in Tal Adi Dabah, Iraq, Nov. 7, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Bendet
Students stand in line to receive school supplies from U.S. Army soldiers of 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, attached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, at the Thekhar Primary School in the Hateem neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 12, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill
U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Candy Shire, an information officer, is greeted by children at a clinic in Rawah, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Sept. 6, 2007. U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Eli Medellin
Maj. John Bancroft, company commander for Alpha Company, Marine Wing Security Battalion 372, carries backpacks into the school house in Hawran, Oct. 19. The Marines of 2nd Platoon, Alpha Co., dropped off school supplies during a patrol of the area surrounding Al Asad. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Zachary Dyer
U.S. Army soldiers hand out supplies to a villager during a medical operation in Sabah Nissan, Iraq, March 27, 2008. The soldiers are assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division's Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel Herrera
Iraqi children show their enthusiasm as U.S. soldiers conduct a humanitarian aid mission in Al Makum, Iraq, March 4, 2008. The Soldiers are from 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Comabat Team, 10th Mountain Division. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Bendet
Karlo, a U.S. Army working dog, relaxes in the sun in front of a painted building after completing a full day's work with his handler in Kirkuk, Iraq, March 20, 2008. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Bendet
U.S. Army Capt. Antoine McKinsey teaches Iraqi soldiers English at Combat Operating Post Mountain in Mosul, Iraq, on April 17, 2008. McKinsey is assigned to the 10th Mountain Division's 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillary, 4th Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Pvt. 1st Class Sarah De Boise
Amenah Thabit, 2, smiles aboard a C-130 Hercules aircraft, March 7, 2008, after she and her mother, Maha Muhamed Bandar, right, returned from the United States where Amenah had heart surgery. Amenah's father, Al'a Thabit Fattah, left, welcomes them home to Haditha, Iraq. A U.S. Marine discovered Amenah on a routine patrol and fellow Marines helped raise money to send her and her mother to the U.S. for treatment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shawn Coolman
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Mark Ostrander shakes hands with a young Afghan boy during a foot patrol in the Pashwan district, April 22, 2008. Ostrander is a member of the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team's police advisory team and is deployed from the 55th Security Forces Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway
Forty bundles of humanitarian supplies are dropped from a C-17 Globemaster III using the Joint Precision Airdrop Delivery System to a drop zone in Afghanistan, April 13, 2008. The U.S. aircrew is from the 17th Airlift Squadron, Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway
U.S. Army Capt. Jody Brown listens to a patient's heartbeat during a combined medical effort in Bata, Iraq, March 17, 2008. Brown is a physician assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Combat Brigade Team. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. William Greer
U.S. Air Force Capt. Colin Hughes, from the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team, speaks with Afghan contractors before a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the groundbreaking for the construction of a new school in the Tagab district of the Kapisa provinceof Afghanistan April 1, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Tyffani L. Davis
U.S. Army Spc. Eric Lora leads Iraqi children in play, March 8, 2008, in Abu Musa, Iraq. Lora is assigned to the 1st Armored Division's Company I, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. Locals were reluctant to talk with the division's soldiers when they arrived in January, fearing al Qaeda reprisals. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett
U.S. Navy sailor Bryce P. Moheit , watches a child do a handstand during a patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, March 11, 2008. Moheit is assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Grant T. Walker
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class James Boucher smiles as an Iraqi child enjoys trying on his helmet and sunglasses during a community outreach visit to the Al-Fahdl Clinic in Baghdad, March 21, 2008. Boucher is assigned to the 10th Mountain Division's Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, attached to Multinational Division - Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Grant Okubo
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Oliver smiles at an Iraqi child during a patrol in the Suleikh and Qahira neighborhoods of Baghdad, April 1, 2008. Oliver is a platoon leader assigned to the 4th Infantry Division's Company A, 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Multinational Division Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joseph Rivera Rebolledo
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Gartsu gets a high-five from a student at Abu Shear school, April 14, 2008, in the Monsouri area of Iraq as he and other soldiers deliver backpacks, soccer balls and notebooks. Gartsu is assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis
U.S. Army Capt. Joe Dominguez, Task Force XII physician’s assistant, peers into the eyes of an Iraqi man who came to a cooperative medical clinic in his village on April 21, 2008. The clinics allow Multinational Division Baghdad’s medics the chance to help Iraqis in remote villages. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Chris Seaton
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Groves nails a sign in place as an Iraqi boy holds it, April 27, 2008. The sign instructs visitors to the newly opened Civil Military Operations Center on Joint Security Station Sadr City. Groves is assigned to the 4th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Eric Gianneris meets a local shop owner while conducting a joint patrol in Shulla, Iraq, April 3, 2008. Gianneris is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill
Marine Lance Cpl. Edwin S. Contreras gives an Iraqi boy a lollipop in Hit, Iraq, March 29, 2008. Contreras, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, was conducting a security patrol through the city. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Erik Villagan
Iraqi children pose in front of their artwork after a day spent painting a protective "T-wall" on Forward Operating Base War Eagle in northern Baghdad that lines their route to school, March 29, 2008. Photo by Army Spc. Joseph Rivera Rebolledo
Village of Hope vocational students lay pipe for a well in Hawr Rajab, Iraq, March 31, 2008. The students get both hands-on and classroom instruction from U.S. Air Force airmen during the three-month course. Photo courtesy of Multinational Division - Center
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel F. Alvarez hands comic books to Iraqi children at Hit, Iraq, April 10, 2008. Alvarez, a rifleman, is assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Erik Villagran
U. S. Marine Sgt. Aaron Letteer is welcomed home by his family, Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 4, 2008. Letteer was deployed to Iraq with 2nd Intelligence Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force for more than six months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Meg Varvil
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Everyday Heroes
Every American soldier is a hero. Whether they’re guarding the front gate at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg, pulling KP at Camp Pendleton or patrolling a back street in Baghdad, they stand watch over freedom’s front line.
Those stationed overseas to fight the war against terrorism carry an extra burden. Friends and family are thousands of miles away, replaced with sandstorms, mortar attacks, booby traps, remotely triggered explosive devices and unforgiving weather.
Despite the adversity, the American spirit has not only carried on, it has thrived.
Reports of G.I.s rising to the occasion—performing the kind of gallant act against evil that makes headlines across the nation—come across the news wires almost daily. It may have been that way since our nation’s birth, but it’s still enough to raise a lump in the throat of every red-blooded American.
But, for every medal-winning soldier in The Sandbox, there are thousands whose name may never appear in print. They too are heroes. They touch the hearts of those in Iraq and Afghanistan in a manner diplomats can only dream of.
One vaccination, one school, backpack, teddy bear and even playground at a time, they deliver an eloquent message too often lost in headlines or diplomatic pouches. “We care.” When they don’t have candy to hand out, they resort to the universal language of high fives with the kids. They let them take a picture, try on their helmet or even borrow a pair of shades.
These photos provided by the Department of Defense won’t help hawk newspapers, so I doubt they ever saw their way into print. They were just too good for us to ignore though.
Take a look and you’ll be proud of the young men and women who make up today’s U.S. military. I know we sure are.
By Guy J. Sagi